Published 08:40 IST, June 9th 2020
Trump holds meeting with law enforcement officials, opposes demand for police defunding
US President Donald Trump, during a meeting with the law enforcement officials in the White House, clarified that there will not be defunding of police force
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US President Donald Trump, during a meeting with the law enforcement officials in the White House on Monday, clarified that there will not be defunding of the police force. Speaking against the growing demands of activists and protestors to 'Defund the Police', Trump said that there will be no such drastic moves.
Citing the tragic death of George Floyd, Trump further told the officials, "We want to make sure we don't have any bad actors in there. Sometimes you'll see some horrible things as we witnessed recently, but let's go with 99% of them are great, great people."
According to Trump, all those cities which are considering defunding and dismantling the police forces are going to be in a very "sad situation" because people are not going to be protected.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Trump stated that this year has seen the lowest number of crimes in the country. He further added that he wants "Law and Order". The protestors and activists who are demonstrating against police brutality that lead to the tragic death of George Floyd have been calling for the defunding of the police force in the country.
This year has seen the lowest crime numbers in our Country’s recorded history, and now the Radical Left Democrats want to Defund and Abandon our Police. Sorry, I want LAW & ORDER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2020
Biden opposes Defunding the police
Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate for the US 2020 Elections Joe Biden on Monday has also opposed the demands to 'Defunding the police'. Speaking to an international media, Biden made it clear that he does not support defunding of the police force but instead is in favour of conditioning federal aid to the police -- based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness.
George Floyd's Death
George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died in Minneapolis earlier last week. As per reports, Floyd was arrested by the local police for unspecified charges on May 26. A tussle is said to have broken out between George Floyd and the police officials, which resulted in Floyd’s death after being subdued for several minutes by an officer. In a video that went viral on the internet, the officer was seen pressing his knee against Floyd's neck who was seen gasping for air before turning motionless.
George Floyd's death has triggered mass unrest in various parts of the US. As per reports, police officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J Alexander Kueng - were later fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
08:40 IST, June 9th 2020